Congratulations! You’ve completed your MCAT and taken the required coursework to apply to medical school. Now that you’ve locked in the quantitative aspects of your application (your GPA and MCAT), where do you go from here? Read more

Our series of interviews with admissions consultants and admissions officers about different parts of the college application is designed to illuminate how each component fits into the whole. This post is an in-depth discussion about what makes a good essay, how it’s evaluated by admissions officers, and much more. Read more

Seniors: This whole college thing is about to get real. In the swirl of emotion that surrounds the end of high school and the start of college, it’s easy to forget the specific things that will make the transition to college go a lot more smoothly. That’s why we’ve provided a checklist to help you stay on track during these last few months of senior year. Read more

A common rumor that starts circulating in high school is that students need to work with a private counselor to get into the college of their choice. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the differences between school counselors and private counselors in order to dispel a few myths and clear up a few facts along the way. Read more

“Fit” is a buzzword that we hear a lot from college admissions officers and counselors, but sometimes it’s given lip service rather than the actual attention it deserves. In this blog post, a former admissions officer and college counselor shares her perspective. Read more

Parents often ask how they can counsel students to pursue something they’re interested in, but also keep an eye on where that’s leading them in their post-college life. Learn how to have this conversation, from a college counselor’s perspective. Read more

Here at Signet, we believe that a little planning and foresight can make the mysteries of the college admissions process much less, well, mysterious. In this blog post, we’re going to demystify one piece of this process: the college visit. Read more

For some students, college visits may be valuable earlier in their high school careers. However, we don’t recommend this for every student. Read on to learn what types of students can benefit from early college visits. Read more

By now, you’ve probably heard the term “fit” in reference to applying to college. Parents often see it as a euphemism for “going to a school that no one has ever heard of.” Many parents agree to finding a “best fit” college when we discuss it, but they end up with a list of all Ivy League colleges and one state school. That’s not usually a sign of understanding what we mean by “fit.” In this blog post, we interview a former college admissions officer to discuss what “fit” really means, and its value and place in the college admissions process. Read more

​While it’s tempting to think of the Activities List and Common App as simply forms to fill out, they actually provide the foundation of a student’s narrative. In short, they are very important, and it’s helpful to understand exactly how they’ll be used in the admissions process. Read more

Fellowship applications require high-achieving students to navigate detailed and specific instructions in the hopes of receiving substantial opportunity, funds, and recognition. In the process, there isn't any room for error. Read more

In this post, I sit down with a former admissions officer from Stanford University to cover the basics of early applications. Read on to learn what they are and whether you should submit one. Read more

While you don’t want to be insincere or shady about the process of asking for recommendations, thinking carefully about what recommendations will help your application and how to ask for them can go a long way. Read more